Fire-door-operating device



March 31. 1925.v

1,532,029 R. D. BOBBITT FIRE DOOR OPERATING DEVICE Filed Feb. 25, 1924 `3 sheets-sheet 1 gwumtoz Cuong,

- 'March 31.1925.

R. D.'ABOBBITT FIRE DOOR OPERATING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 245, 1924 March 31. 1925. 1,532,029

R. D. BoBBrr'r L" FIRE DOOR OPERATINGfDEVICE abbina;-

Patented Mar.. 31, 1925.

untreu Asrarlas RALPH BOBBITT, OF NRFOLK, VIRGINIA.

Freemen-OPERATING DEVICE.

Application filed4V February espace. serial No. 595,134.

To all who-m 'it may Concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH D. BoBBrr'r, a citizen oi the UnitedStates, residing at llo'iiftilli,` in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented new anduse'ful Improvements inl Fire-Door-Operating Devices, of which the following is a specification. y

This `invention relates to door operating mechanism and has for its object the provisionof 'power means for controlling opening oi the doors on a locomotive lire box whereby `to obvia'tey any ynecessity for manual operation. y

An important and more specific object is the provision of a fluid pressure operated mechanism' `for l theactuating force may beeither steam or compressed air. i

An additional' object is the provision of a mechanism of this character Which Will be simple and inexpensive in manufacture and installation; easy to control and operate, positivein action,y etlicient' and durable in service and a general improvement' in the art. y

Iith the' above and -other objects and advantages in view the invention' consists in the details of constructionuto behereina'iter more fully" described and "claimed and illustrated' in 'the accompanying drawings, in Which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the mechanism applied to the fire doors of a locomotive the doors being shown as closed.

Figure 2 is a similar vievs7 With the doors in open position and showing the operating cylinder in section,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3`3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4t is a detail sectional View oit the controlling valve mechanism.

Figure 5 is a detail vievv of a holding bracket for the manual control lever.

Referring more particularly7 to the drawings the letter A indicates the door frame having an opening B normally closed by a pair of doors C which are slidably mounted and Which have hangers D equipped with rollers E traveling upon guide rails F and F suitably secured onto the frame A. The upper rail has its upper edge V-shaped and contormingly engaged by the rollers G which are correspondingly grooved. The lower rail F is grooved at its underside and the rollers G are correspondingly this purpose in which shaped. The exact .manner of mounting the door frame and other details need not be illustrated' 'or described specifically as such Willfbe' obviousV to one skilled in the art. Y

In' carrying out the invention -I provide a support 10 adapted to be bolted or ot-hen Wise secured to the frame A. Carried by this support is a cylinder 11 having heads 12 and containing two pistons 13 mounted on the inner ends of piston rods 14 which are slidable through the heads 12fand which terminate in forks 15.' The pistons are normally urged toward the center of the cylinder by springs 16 which engage against the pistons and against the heads. At the centerof the cylinder is an inlet port 17 for the introduction of steam or compressed air supplied through control means to be described.

Pivoted at 18 on the lsupport 10 are levers 19 to the tree ends of Which are pivotally connected links'20 which are in turn pivoted at 21 on the doors C. To insure simultaneous movement of the' levers at all times, I provide a bridle bar 22 pivotally connected at 23 with one lever below its pivot andV pivoted at 24 to the other lever above itspivot. The forks 15 are pivotally co.n nected at '25 with the respective levers. The connection must be loose to prevent binding and for illustrative purposes I have shown the levers as slotted at 25a to permit the necessary play.

The control valve mechanism comprises a body 26 having an inlet 27 to Which is connected a suitable pipe 28 leading from the engine boiler or from some compressed air reservoir. At an opposite point the body has an outlet 29 to which is connected a pipe 30 leading to the inlet port 17 in the cylinder 11. Internally the body is formed with a chamber 31 and a separate chamber 32 having a valve seat 33 therein. The chamber 32 communicates with the inlet 28 through a passage 341. Below the chamber 31 is a chamber 35 communicating with the atmosphere through ports 36. Slidable through the body is a double valve which includes a stem 37 carrying a valve 38 adapted to engage the seat 33, and further carrying a valve 39 adapted to engage a seat 40 formed at the juncture of the chambers 31 and 35. Above the valve 38 is a spring L11 which operates to force it downwardly, and the top of the body is closed by a removable plug 42 which forms an abutment Vfor the spring 41 and a guide for the stem 37. The bottom part of the body is provided with a removable plug 13 within which the above described ports 86 are formed.

ln the operation it will be seen that to effect opening of the doors, it is necessary to move` the valve stem 37 upwardly by some suitable handle device such as that illustrated at 32, whereupon the valve 39 seats and the valve 38 unseats, permitting steam or compressed air to pass from the passage 2S through the passage 34, chamber 32, chamber 31 and pipe 30 to the cylinder 11. Then this is done the expansion of this fluid pressure within the cylinder forces the pistons 1B outwardly resulting` in swinging the levers 19 outwardly and opening the doors. To rcclose the doors, pressure on the valve stem 37 is released whereupon the spring 4:1 forces the stem 37 downwardly, closing the inlet valve 38 and opening the exhaust valveJ 39. The iluid within the cylinder 11 then escapes through the pipe 30, chamber 31, chamber and ports 36 to the atmosphere, the springs 16 returning the pistons to normal position so that the doors are again slid into their closed position.

ln order that the doors may be operated manually, l provide an angle lever t which has its angle pivoted at the point 18 and which includes a long arm 45 constituting` a handle, and a short arm 46 which carries a transverse pin t7 engaging the lever 19. In case the power means is not used for any reason, downward pressure upon the handle 45 will cause the angle lever 14C to swing the doors open. The opening of the doors by the power means does not effect the hand lever. For holding the doors in partly or entirely open position, l provide a bracket 18 which is clamped or otherwise secured at one end of the cylinder, and which bracket is formed with a stop 49 against which the lever normally rests. rllhe bracket is also formed with notches 50 and 51 within which the lever may be engaged for holding the lever with the doors partly or entirely open, as the case may be. By disengagingthe hand lever from its holding'bracket and swinging it down the doors are 'forced open as shown in Figure 2. It the doors are vopened by power, the hand lever does not move.

lVhile l have shown and described the preferred embodiment ot my invention it is of course to be understood that l reserve the right to mal-:e such changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

vlclaving thus described my invention I claim:

.ln combination with the movably mounted doors of a locomotive lire box, a cylinder, pistons oppositely arranged therein and carried by piston rods, levers pivotally mounted at one end and having their other ends pivotally connected with the doors, said piston rods being pivotally connected with said levers, a control valve having an inlet Jfrom a source of fluid pressure and having an outlet connected with said cylinder at a point between the pistons therein, valve seats within the valve structure, and a stem carrying two valves controlling said seats whereby to permit flow of fluid pressure to or from the cylinder.

ln testimony whereof I aiX my signature.

RALPH D. BOBBITTe 

